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Article - Interest in Evander Kane is everything that’s wrong with Canucks

CanadianRugby

By CanadianRugby
in Canucks Talk

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CanadianRugby Canucks Third-Line

CanadianRugby

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http://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/interest-in-evander-kane-is-everything-thats-wrong-with-the-canucks#comments

 

Evander Kane can’t win, on the ice or off it.

No, really.

Thursday, he called out his Buffalo Sabres for becoming a “joke” around the NHL because they can’t score goals.

He was pointing at himself as much as anyone. He was being honest. But he was still scolded on a national sports network for speaking out of turn, an all-too-common reaction from media who cover hockey.

Anyone ripping him, and there were many, got it wrong but chalk it up as reason No. 28 Kane would be an awful fit in Vancouver.

Because with Kane, no one is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt anymore.

If he’s having issues navigating the media in Buffalo, just imagine what would happen with a couple of sparks in the powder keg that is the Vancouver Canucks’ situation.

There may be worse places for Kane to end up — like, say, Las Vegas — but there aren’t many.

And there may be worse ideas than the Canucks trading for him.

Actually, I can’t think of any.

 

That the Canucks are interested in Kane at all strikes to the core of everything that’s wrong with this team.

A Kane trade is a move a winner makes, a buy-low bet on an expensive problem winger who you hope can push you over the top before he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season.

It’s not a move a rebuilding team makes. Just look at how great it’s gone for the Sabres.

The Canucks are a rebuilding team, whether or not the front office is going to cop to it.

They don’t seem to see it this way, but they have not been competitive in 2016.

That is true, even if they were three wins out of first place in their division Friday. That was a point club GM Jim Benning made in a TSN 1040 appearance, as though the fans here are delusional.

They’re not.

 

The Canucks have the worst goal differential in the league. They’ve given up the fifth-most goals. They are on pace to break a record for the least amount of time spent leading a game.

And, for the past year, they’ve been the lowest scoring team in the NHL. That’s not a fluke. By any possible measure, the Canucks have not been a good hockey club. Far from it.

So when the the general manager goes on the local sports radio station and suggests he wants to add a forward with “speed and skill” and may be willing to trade some of his young, defensive depth to do it, the first reaction is:

Really? Why? To try to finish 10th?

 

The second reaction is: It better not be for Kane.

If he can’t help the Sabres score goals, what makes anyone think he’s going to move the needle in Vancouver before he becomes a UFA?

When asked about his overall plan in Vancouver, Benning used the word “rebuild” Friday.

That hasn’t been common for a GM who vowed the team would stay in the playoff race when he took the job.

What has been consistent, however, is the way this team will unabashedly move the targets.

In the 2015 offseason, the Canucks were pitched as a 100-point playoff team. When that didn’t happen, injuries were deemed the reason.

This summer, the team presented itself as improved, faster and better with the Loui Eriksson addition and with third and fourth lines that were going to outscore opponents.

 

Again, the playoffs were the goal.

But that goal post has seemingly changed again.

Benning said the Canucks are just “trying to stay competitive.”

“That was going to be the tough part of the job,” Benning said, looking back on when he was hired. “The challenge was going to be to try and be competitive until our younger players are up and running and they show up and play and help our team win.

“When I talked to Trevor (Linden) about taking the job, we talked about the next two or three years from when I took the job to rebuild the team.”

Wait, this has been a rebuild?

 

Maybe if he said that, and believed it, on his first day in Vancouver, and they made decisions that reflected that line of thinking, things would be different.

But back then the focus was on a quick turnaround. Back then Benning said: “This organization needs to play an up-tempo, fast-skating, skilled game.”

Two-and-a-half years later, the Canucks are the opposite.

And now, the Cancuks aren’t trying to be competitive for the playoffs, they’re just trying to be competitive in every game..

I understand why the organization is trying to steer from making-the-playoffs talk.

But there is a problem. When you start saying you’re trying to get into the playoff race, just to be competitive, what you’re basically saying is the franchise’s goal is to finish ninth or 10th.

 

In the NHL, where top prospects are everything, finishing ninth or 10th is pretty much death.

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tas Canucks Star

tas

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the thing about evander kane that everyone seems to either not understand, ignore, or refuse to accept is that he's a bad, horribly overrated hockey player even if you ignore the ego and off ice garbage.

 

you're frustrated with louis eriksson for $6 mil? just wait until you see evander.

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Wilbur Canucks First-Line

Wilbur

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23 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

...even if they were three wins out of first place in their division Friday. That was a point club GM Jim Benning made in a TSN 1040 appearance, as though the fans here are delusional.

They’re not.

The more Benning makes this point I get the feeling his audience isn't a grand one like the fan base or even the team.  It's targeted to a much smaller audience, an audience of one, Francesco Aquilini.

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LaBamba Canucks First-Line

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44 minutes ago, higgyfan said:

Well, there we are.  No more worries.  Close thread!

 

This thread is more about the mentality of Benning. I was also unsettled by his talk of trading D-depth for a forward. How many overpaid wingers is it going to take for him to understand our problems are deeper than that.

 

I'm starting to believe that ownership really isn't involved with Jim decisions.He is seriously this short sighted. I see an opening for a disconnect coming soon. If Toronto keeps showing improvement and Edmonton gets back on track, I think ownership could turn on management or possibly change their philosophy anyway. 

 

Jim and the homers are now saying "trying to stay competitive" oh really? Cause that's not the tone I got from signing a 6x6 winger or trading futures for an average defensive d-man with more "leadership" qualities. I got "we seriously think we are a good team" out of that. It boggles my mind. Was it really that big of a coincidence to see every single media outlet in North America placing us in the bottom 3? No, it wasn't. We are horrible on and off paper, now AND in the future. Get use to it guys. It's going to be a long and painful ride. If you think Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser are going to replace the Sedins then my heart breaks for you. 

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CanadianRugby Canucks Third-Line

CanadianRugby

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I guess it depends what your opinion of how realistic it is, that Virtanen, Boeser, Juolevi & Demko lead the Canucks to the Stanley Cup.  Because that seems to be the plan. 

 

“When I talked to Trevor (Linden) about taking the job, we talked about the next two or three years from when I took the job to rebuild the team.”

Wait, this has been a rebuild?

 

So the plan was/is that next year or the year after the rebuild is done and the young players have taken over.  The D should be ok but have never had and still don't have a #1D.  Hopefully Juilevi can step up.  As far as replacing the Sedins?  I love Horvat but he's not a #1C.  Baertschi hasn't shown he belongs on a 2nd line, never mind the 1st.  Virtanen?  Ugh.  Boeser is the main... the only hope right now.  That's a lot of pressure on a late 1st round pick.  There's no great prospects in Utica.  Maybe we shouldn't have been trading all those 2nd rounders so we could have this... competitive team? 

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ice orca

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1 minute ago, LaBamba said:

 

This thread is more about the mentality of Benning. I was also unsettled by his talk of trading D-depth for a forward. How many overpaid wingers is it going to take for him to understand our problems are deeper than that.

 

I'm starting to believe that ownership really isn't involved with Jim decisions.He is seriously this short sighted. I see an opening for a disconnect coming soon. If Toronto keeps showing improvement and Edmonton gets back on track, I think ownership could turn on management or possibly change their philosophy anyway. 

 

Jim and the homers are now saying "trying to stay competitive" oh really? Cause that's not the tone I got from signing a 6x6 winger or trading futures for an average defensive d-man with more "leadership" qualities. I got "we seriously think we are a good team" out of that. It boggles my mind. Was it really that big of a coincidence to see every single media outlet in North America placing us in the bottom 3? No, it wasn't. We are horrible on and off paper, now AND in the future. Get use to it guys. It's going to be a long and painful ride. If you think Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser are going to replace the Sedins than my heart breaks for you. 

Jim and the Homers sounds like a cheesy band.

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LaBamba Canucks First-Line

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16 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

I guess it depends what your opinion of how realistic it is, that Virtanen, Boeser, Juolevi & Demko lead the Canucks to the Stanley Cup.  Because that seems to be the plan. 

 

“When I talked to Trevor (Linden) about taking the job, we talked about the next two or three years from when I took the job to rebuild the team.”

Wait, this has been a rebuild?

 

So the plan was/is that next year or the year after the rebuild is done and the young players have taken over.  The D should be ok but have never had and still don't have a #1D.  Hopefully Juilevi can step up.  As far as replacing the Sedins?  I love Horvat but he's not a #1C.  Baertschi hasn't shown he belongs on a 2nd line, never mind the 1st.  Virtanen?  Ugh.  Boeser is the main... the only hope right now.  That's a lot of pressure on a late 1st round pick.  There's no great prospects in Utica.  Maybe we shouldn't have been trading all those 2nd rounders so we could have this... competitive team? 

 

I actually think our lack of mobility and creativity on D is our biggest organizational problem. We have rebuild our D into a 1975 Cadillac Eldorado. Beautiful car in 1975 and still very attractive today. It just can't compete with the Ferrari's that handle at high speeds around corners and stop on a dime. 

 

The blueprint of our team and the method we are using to build it are   Nostalgic to me. 

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Type R Abbotsford Star

Type R

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The "idea" of Kane is enticing, hard hitting, fast skater, and decent hands.  The reality right now is he's only played 6 games, is a -6 (projections people?) and has 1 assist.  He's not exactly lighting it up, and hes already taking heat for calling out his teammates when he cant put it in the back of the net either.

 

To compare, Jack Skille has the same amount of points 1A, and is the same -6 in 12 games.  The difference is he tries nightly, and he leaves it on the ice, and you never hear a word of negativity out of him.  And he doesn't cost 6m per year.

Kane.JPG

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